If you were hurt in a car crash caused by a negligent or distracted driver, you might need costly medical care to treat your accident injuries. Even when you recuperate, you’ll still be left with vehicle repair bills, lost wages, and a handful of other financial setbacks.
One of the most important things you can do after a collision is to seek legal counsel. At Triumph Law, our Sacramento car accident lawyers know what it takes to secure maximum financial compensation.
A Sacramento personal injury lawyer from our firm can guide you through the legal process and fight to ensure you walk out of the courtroom or away from the negotiation table with the best result possible.
What Kinds of Damages Can I Recover after a Car Accident in Sacramento?
When it comes to car accident claims, there are generally two categories of recoverable damages: economic and non-economic. Economic damages, which include medical costs and lost income, can be calculated using medical bills and other invoices, making them much easier to recover.
Non-economic damages, like pain and suffering, make up for losses that are intangible and difficult to attach a price tag to. It’s not easy to calculate the value of someone’s pain or mental anguish, which is why non-economic damages are so hard to obtain.
Fortunately, a Sacramento car accident attorney can draw on their legal experience to get you the following economic and non-economic damages:
- Car rental expenses: Temporary costs for alternative transportation while your vehicle is repaired.
- Vehicle repair costs: Expenditures to fix any physical harm done to your automobile in the accident.
- Property damage: Destruction or loss of personal belongings that were in the vehicle at the time of the crash.
- Lost wages: Income lost from missed days at work directly after the collision and during recovery.
- Decreased earning ability: Reduction in long-term earnings potential due to injuries sustained.
- Medical expenses: Past and future outlays for doctors, rehabilitation, procedures, medications, assistive devices, etc.
- Pain and suffering: Compensation for physical and psychological discomfort endured.
- Emotional distress: Damages for mental anguish caused by accident-related injuries.
- Loss of consortium: Reimbursement for impacts on family relationships due to injuries.
- Reduced quality of life: Settlement funds for the loss of enjoyment of life due to limitations from the collision.
To win fair compensation, you’ll need a skilled trial attorney who can utilize evidence and expert testimony to support your case. Attorney Robert Carichoff has recovered millions of dollars for clients throughout his 20+ years of experience.
You can contact us to schedule a free consultation and find out if our team of legal professionals can help you recover damages.
Statute of Limitations for Auto Accident Claims in California
Ideally, an auto accident lawyer in Sacramento will negotiate a fair settlement with the at-fault driver’s insurance company. However, some cases may require further action. For instance, if the insurer rejects your insurance claim or offers too little, you may have to pursue a civil suit.
If that happens, you and your attorney will have a strict time limit. According to California Code of Civil Procedure § 335.1, there’s a two-year statute of limitations for personal injury lawsuits and a three-year deadline for property damage suits.
Hiring a Sacramento personal injury lawyer from our firm as soon as you can to give us time to gather evidence, prepare your case, and submit your accident lawsuit before it’s too late.
What Kind of Settlement Should You Expect After a Traffic Accident?
Understanding each factor that goes into a settlement estimate can be difficult. To learn more about the compensation you’re owed, you’ll need to consult with an experienced car accident attorney from Sacramento. We will explain how the following factors impact the value of your accident injury claim:
- The Severity of Your Injuries: Your lawyer will evaluate how serious your injuries are based on medical records to demonstrate their long-lasting impacts, which affect the settlement value.
- Cost of current and future medical bills: An attorney can compile all your past and anticipated future medical costs, like emergency transport, hospitalization, surgeries, rehabilitation, and more, to prove economic damages.
- Loss of income now and in the future: If injuries prevent you from working or lead to ongoing disabilities, your lawyer will work with experts to calculate lost wages and future earning potential to be recouped.
- Pain and suffering you’ve sustained: Documenting ongoing issues like chronic pain, impaired mobility, and ability to enjoy life helps place a value on non-economic damages for mental and physical trauma suffered.
We won’t be able to give you a precise settlement estimate until we’ve learned more about the automobile accident and the injuries you’ve suffered.
However, we can show you examples of previous case results through negotiations and jury verdicts to provide a better sense of potential outcomes and compensation. Your lawyer’s goal is to maximize the value of your compensation claim.
Visit our Triumphs page to read about our impressive past victories.
What if the Insurance Company Says I’m Partially At Fault for My Accident?
It is possible that you may share some of the liability in a car accident. California follows the doctrine of comparative negligence, which means that if you are found partially at fault for the crash, your damages will be reduced proportionally to your degree of fault.
Here’s some more detail on how it works and how a lawyer can help:
- In a comparative negligence state like California, if the accident victim is found to be partially at fault for the incident, it reduces their recovery in proportion to their level of fault.
- For example, if they were 20% at fault, they may only receive 80% of the full value of their damages. This could significantly lower a settlement offer.
- An experienced attorney will conduct a thorough investigation of the accident dynamics and collect evidence like witness statements, traffic camera footage, or accident reconstruction to show the client was not truly negligent.
- We can rebut any comparative negligence defenses raised by hiring experts to analyze whether things like speeding, distraction, and failure to signal contributed to causing the accident.
- The lawyer will identify discrepancies in the other driver’s story if they claim the injury victim was fully or mostly at fault to shift liability back where it belongs.
Handling comparative negligence defenses correctly is critical to obtaining maximum compensation and avoiding high-risk dismissal of the case. With strong advocacy, lawyers can prevent clients’ recoveries from being improperly reduced.
Am I Responsible for My Medical Bills After a Car Accident?
If you’ve been in a serious car crash, you first need to seek medical treatment for any injuries you may have sustained in the accident. Doing so will ensure that you receive the treatment you need and that you have the medical documentation you need to prove that your injuries are legitimate.
While receiving quality medical attention is crucial to your health, it can also be incredibly costly. To ensure you have the best chance of receiving compensation from an insurance compensation claim or personal injury claim, you should document the medical care you receive and save all of your bills and records.
Some Things to Keep Track of Include:
- Transportation to and from the hospital
- Ambulance rides
- Physical therapy
- Hospital bills
- Over-the-counter medication
- Prescription medication
- X-rays
- MRIs
- Visits to the emergency room
- Surgery
Our Team Can Help Coordinate Your Medical Care
The personal injury attorneys at our firm understand how difficult it can be to schedule appointments and communicate with your health insurance company after a collision.
To make your recovery as stress-free as possible, our experienced car accident lawyer can coordinate your appointments and work with your insurer to identify all available forms of coverage.
If your health insurance policy doesn’t cover an important operation or medication, we can connect you with the resources you need to afford it. We’ll get you in contact with third-party lenders who can provide you with the funding you need. Once we’ve secured your compensation, you’ll be able to pay them back.
Can I Recover Compensation If I Share Fault for the Accident?
Under California’s comparative fault laws, you can still recover damages even if you are partially to blame for the auto collision. Sometimes called comparative negligence, the state’s fault system reduces the amount of compensation you can recover by your percentage of fault.
Your percentage of fault represents the amount that you contributed to the crash. If your contribution was minimal, your percentage of fault might be set at 20%, allowing you to recover most of the compensation available. If your percentage is higher, the damages you can obtain will be more limited.
If you were involved in a car crash and you believe you share some of the blame, or the negligent party isn’t admitting responsibility, we encourage you to contact a Sacramento car accident attorney from our firm. We’ll advise you on your best course of action and ensure that the fault is assigned accurately.
Important Steps to Take After a Car Crash
Collisions happen in the blink of an eye, leaving those involved feeling overwhelmed, shocked, and concerned about what they should do next. To avoid greater frustrations later on, keep a clear head and take the following measures after a motor vehicle accident:
- Call the police: Even if no one appears to be severely injured, it’s important to call 911. Having a police report for your claim is vital, so never forego this step; doing so could jeopardize your ability to recover compensation.
- Do what you can to preserve the scene of the accident: If it is not possible to safely move your vehicle or injured party from the scene, set up some flares or keep your hazard lights on to preserve evidence. Protecting the scene of the collision is crucial and will better allow law enforcement officers to document the details of the collision.
- Be as accurate as possible in describing what happened: Providing an accurate description to the police can be difficult, especially if you are still in shock, so do the best you can and avoid speculating. Remember, the insurance company representative will get a copy of this report, and the last thing you want is for inconsistent statements to affect your case. To prevent insurers from using your statement against you, briefly state the facts and don’t admit fault.
- Take as many pictures as you can: The pictures you take after an accident will provide the kind of solid evidence that words cannot. Fortunately, most of us have phones equipped with cameras, so this should be easy to do. Take pictures of vehicle damage, visible injuries, damage to the area where the accident occurred, and the overall scene.
- Exchange information: Remember to exchange insurance carrier details, contact information, and plate numbers with everyone involved in the collision. The police officer responding to your call should also collect this information but never assume you can rely on others to obtain the necessary information. If there were any witnesses at the scene, collect their contact information as well.
- Seek immediate medical attention: Minor and severe injuries from a collision can have delayed symptoms. Some conditions may be masked by the adrenaline rush and shock you’re experiencing from the crash. You should still see a doctor if you don’t feel pain right away. A physician can identify underlying auto accident injuries and provide the treatment you need to protect your health.
- Hire an auto accident attorney: As mentioned earlier, there are strict deadlines for personal injury and property damage lawsuits. Contact a car accident lawyer from Sacramento ASAP to ensure your suit is filed promptly and correctly.
Common Injuries We Claim in Car Accident Cases
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Concussions and head injuries
- Spinal cord injuries
- Broken bones
- Internal organ damage
- Soft tissue injuries
- Back injuries
- Catastrophic injuries
- Facial injuries
Let’s Start Your Car Accident Claim Today
If an inattentive driver has hit you, a Sacramento car accident attorney from Triumph Law can help you understand your rights and advocate on your behalf. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation and find out if you’re eligible to pursue compensation for your bills, losses, and non-economic damages.
If we agree to help you with your case, our team will give your claim for damages or lawsuit the attention it needs to be successful. We’ll use our resources to investigate your collision, find the evidence we need to prove fault and negotiate a high-value settlement with the negligent driver’s insurer.
There is no upfront cost. Our law firm works on a contingency fee basis, so we do not collect any fees unless we collect compensation on your behalf.
